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EXTRACT  FROM  THE  REPORT 


BOARD  S  PUBLIC  CHARITIES 


STATE  OF  PENNSYLVANIA, 


F  on    1871 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARD. 


THOS.  L.  KANE, 
G.  DAWSON  COLEMAN, 
GEO.  L.  HAKRISON. 
HIESTRR  CLYMER. 
WILLIAM  BAKEWELL. 

(;E().   I.    HAKKiS(JN. 

WILMER  WORTHINGTON, 

General  Aginf  and  Secrefari/. 


i^LvukU4.xij/6<>"j<-vulL    . 


Iw 


COMPULSORY  EDUCATION, 


EXTRACT  FEOM  THE  REPORT 


BOARD  OF  PUBLIC  CHARITIES 


STATE  OP  PENNSYLVANIA, 


rOR    1871. 


r  liiy^ 


.•'V 

,^' 


COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 


In  the  report  of  this  Board  for  1870,  the  last  topic 
presented  was  that  of  "neglected  children."  The  Legisla- 
ture was  then  appealed  to,  by  the  highest  considerations  of 
the  interest  and  duty  of  the  State,  to  make  provision  for 
their  care  and  education.  "  The  average  of  social  virtue, 
dignity  and  wealth,"  it  was  then  said,  ''is  much  reduced  by 
the  presence  of  this  debased  and  debasing  ingredient. 
And  it  is  a  problem  well  worthy  of  the  gravest  and  most 
patient  thought  of  philanthropic  political  economists, 
whether  anything,  and  (if  anything)  what  can  be  done  for 
the  rescue  of  these  unfortunates  from  their  ill-starred  con- 
dition, for  the  protection  of  the  community  which  they 
deteriorate,  and  for  the  purity,  welfare  and  honor  of  the 
State,  the  mother  of  them  all." 

This  evil  exists  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  but  is  most 
patent  and  pressing  in  large  cities  and  crowded  communi- 
ties. The  remedy — 'what  it  shall  be,  and  how  it  shall  be 
applied,  is  a  subject  beset  with  grave  difficulties  ;  but  they 
are  difficulties  which  must  be  sooner  or  later  manfully  met 
and  grappled  with.     The  stability  and  welfare  of  the  State 

M72998 


6 

and  its  free  institutions,  the  interests  and  safety  of  every 
citizen,  and  the  weal  or  woe  of  the  thousands  of  innocent 
and  helpless  victims,  are  involved  in  the  question  and  wait 
upon  your  solution. 

Th^s.'is  an -eminent' y  proper  subject  for  this  Board  to 
bring  to'  your  attention,  both  as  a  "  Board  of  Public  Ghari- 
tids/'«and;a9'bieiJaj;5  required  bylaw  to  report  on  the  causes 
and 'remedies  of  vice  and  crime. 

No  almshouse,  no  hospital,  no  asylum  or  refuge  for  the 
poor,  the  diseased,  the  insane,  the  imbecile,  the  inebriate 
or  the  juvenile  offender,  is  more  a  work  of  charity,  than 
would  be  a  provision  for  the  care  and  education  of  these 
neglected  children.  No  courts  of  justice,  no  prisons  or 
penitentiaries,  or  houses  of  correction,  or  reformatory 
schools  can  tend  more  directly  or  powerfully  to  the  dimi- 
nution of  vice  and  crime,  than  schools  and  homes  for  these 
poor  unfortunates,  ever  growing  up  in  ignorance  and  per- 
nicious habits,  preparing  to  leaven  our  whole  social  condi- 
tion, and  to  assist  in  making  our  laws. 

ILLITERACY  OP^ ADULTS. 

According  to  the  census  of  1860  (the  data  of  that  for 

1870  are  not  accessible),  the  number  of  adults  who  could 

not  read  was : — 

In  the  United  States,  of  the  whole  adult  popu- 
lation,      .        .        .        .        .        .20  per  cent. 

In  the  United  States,  of  the  white  adult  popu- 
lation,        9       " 

In  the  United  States,  of  the  native  white  adult 

population, 7J        " 

In  New  York,  of  the  whole  iidult  population,     6       " 
"           of  the  native  white  iidult  popu- 
lation,        U        " 


In  Massachusetts,  of  the  whole  adult  popula- 
tion,   7  per  cent. 

In  Massachusetts,  of  the  native  white  adult 

population, }        " 

In  Maine,  of  the  whole  adult  population,       .     3        " 
"         of  the  native  white  adult  popula- 
tion,   f        " 

In  Pennsylvania,  of  the  whole  adult  popula- 
tion,   6       " 

In  Pennsylvania,  of  the  native   white   adult 

population, 3J       " 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  only  the  number  of  the  adult 
population  is  here  referred  to  in  each  case. 

Of  the  native  white  population  (adult,)  the  number  of 
illiterate  adults,  less  their  proportion  of  adults  who  were 
idiotic,  insane,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  blind,  was : — 

In  Massachusetts, —  230 

In  Maine, 1,507 

In  Pennsylvania, 34,470 

Thus  the  number  in  Pennsylvania  was  five  to  one  of 
that  in  Maine,  in  proportion  to  the  native  white  population 
of  the  respective  States ;  while  in  Massachusetts  the  re- 
sult shows,  if  the  returns  are  correct,  that  more  than  230 
of  the  idiotic,  insane,  deaf  and  dumb  and  blind  adults  must 
have  been  taught  to  read,  which  is  undoubtedly  the  fact. 
Since  1860,  great  improvements  have  been  made  in  the 
constitution  and  working  of  the  school  system  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  proportion  of 
illiteracy  among  her  native  white  population  has  greatly 
diminished.  Under  such  circumstances,  the  much  greater 
proportion  of  illiteracy  among  the  foreign  born  population, 
though  a  great,  is  but  a  temporary  evil. 


8 

In  reckoning  the  20  per  cent,  of  illiteracy  in  1860,  in 
the  whole  adult  population  of  the  United  States,  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  slaves  were  set  down,  according  to 
their  legal  status,  as  all  untaught  -to  read,  which  was  then 
not  far  from  the  fact. 

NON-ATTENDANCE  OF  CHILDREN   AT  SCHOOL. 

The  number  of  Children  of  the  school  age  (from  5  to 
15),  not  attending  the  public  schools  at  all,  was  : — 
In  Massachusetts,  in  1869  and  1870,     .         .     9  per  cent. 

*'  average  absence  of  pupils,  19       " 

In  Pennsylvania,  in  1869  and  1870,       .         .     6        " 

"  average  absence  of  pupils,  .33        '* 

In  Philadelphia,  in  1869  and  1870,       .        .  12       " 

*'  average  absence  of  pupils,   .46       " 

In  New  York  (school  age  5  to  21),  in  1869,  24 

The  number  of  pupils  in  academies  and  private  schools, 
in  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania,  may  about  balance  the 
number  in  the  public  schools,  of  pupils  under  5  and  over 
15  years  of  age. 

If,  then,  we  make  due  allowance  for  the  number  of 
imbecile,  insane,  deaf  and  dumb  and  blind,  for  those  taught 
to  read  at  home,  for  those  detained  from  school  by  chronic 
sickness,  for  those  (particularly  between  the  ages  of  5  and 
8),  not  yet  sent  to  school,  but  who  will  attend  hereafter, 
and  for  those  (particularly  between  the  ages  of  12  and  15), 
not  attending  school  in  the  given  year,  but  who  had  already 
learned  to  read  in  former  years,  the  percentage  of  absolute 
non-attendance  in  these  two  States  will  be  reduced  to  a 
very  low  figure,  probably  to  not  more  than  one  or  two  per 
cent.,  which  is  quite  enough.  And  the  apparent  advantage 
of  Pennsylvania  over  Massachusetts,  in  the  percentage, 
may,  it  is  not  unlikely,  arise  from  some  difference  in  the 
manner  of  making  the  returns. 


9 

In  Pennsylvania,  the  whole  number  of  pupils  registered 
in  the  public  schools,  during  the  whole  year,  are  reported. 
In  Massachusetts  the  highest  number  attending  for  any 
time,  that  is,  in  the  winter  schools,  is  given.  In  other 
words,  in  Massachusetts  the  highest  number  attending  the 
summer  schools  is  returned,  and  the  highest  number 
attending  the  winter  schools;  but  though  many  pupils 
attend  in  summer  and  not  in  winter,  and  conversely,  no 
attempt  is  made  to  give  the  full  number  of  different  names 
registered  at  both  seasons  of  the  year.  However  this 
point  of  comparison  may  be  settled,  any  doubtful  advantage 
in  this  respect  is  more  than  balanced  by  our  manifest 
disadvantage  in  the  average  absenteeism  of  those  actually 
registered  as  pupils. 

If  due  allowance  is  made  for  the  longer  period  of  school 
age  in  New  York,  it  will  probably  be  found  that,  at  least 
outside  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  school  system  of 
that  State  is  quite  as  effective  in  reaching  the  whole  popu- 
lation as  that  of  either  Massachusetts  or  Pennsylvania. 

It  is  in  the  great  cities,  as  is  showij  by  the  statistics  of 
Philadelphia,  Pittsburg,  Eeading  and  other  large  cities, 
that  the  greatest  proportion  of  neglected  and  uninstructed 
children  is  found;  and  in  such  communities  the  proportion 
is  appalling.  It  cannot  be  less  in  Philadelphia,  after  all 
such  allowances  as  those  before  referred  to  are  made,  than 
about  six  per  cent,  of  the  whole  number  of  children  of 
the  school  age ;  that  is  to  say,  about  ten  or  eleven  thousand. 
.  And  the  huge  and  unparalleled  proportion  of  absence  to 
attendance  of  the  pupils  themselves,  viz.,  forty-six  to  fifty- 
four,  is  scarcely  less  appalling. 

IGNORANCE  AND  CRIME. 

Ignorance  not  only  entails  vice  and  wretchedness  upon 
the  individual,  and  loss  and  expense  upon  the  State,  but 


10 

it  is  a  fruitful  source  of  crime.  This  might  be  presumed 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  without  facts ;  but  facts  estab- 
lish it. 

The  percentage  of  convicts  in  State  prisons  who  were 
unable  to  read  on  admissiori,  as  reported  in  1868,  was : — 
In  the  whole  United  States,  .        .        .28  per  cent. 

In  New  York, 15       " 

In  Pennsylvania, 16       " 

In  Maine, 10       " 

How  far  the  result  in  the  nation,  as  a  whole,  may  have 
been  influenced  by  the  presence  of  the  freedmen,  it  is  not 
possible  for^us,  at  present,  to  determine;  but  it  appears 
that,  even  assuming  all  the  freedmen  to  be  illiterate,  the 
number  of  uninstructed  convicts  was  nearly  three  to  two 
of  what  it  should  have  been  in  proportion  to  the  whole 
number  of  the  illiterate  population  of  the  United  States. 

To  the  percentage  of  illiterate  of  the  whole  adult  popula- 
tion, and  of  the  adult  native  white  population,  respectively, 
the  percentage  of  illiterate  convicts  was : — 

In  New  York, as  2 J  and  10  to  1. 

In  Pennsylvania,  .  .  .  .  as  2f  and  5  to  1. 
In  Maine, as  3J  and  13  to  1. 

And  after  making  the  proper  comparisons,  it  will  ap- 
pear that,  if  all  the  people  in  these  States  had  learned  to 
read,  the  number  of  State  prison  convicts  would  probably 
have  been  diminished  just  about  ten  per  cent. 

DUTY  OF  THE  STATE. 

To  furnish  the  needful  education,  therefore,  to  her 
neglected  children,  is  what  the  State  owes  to  them — ^is 
what  the  State  owes  to  herself.  Charity  requires  it; 
prudence  and  statesmanship  command  it.  And,  accord- 
ingly, we  shall  not  hesitate  to  proceed  to  consider  the 
subject  in  both  these  relations. 


11 

But  when  we  propose  to  bring  our  schools  to  bear  espe- 
cially on  this  unfortunate  class,  we  are  met,  in  .limine^ 
with  the  objection  that  our  present  school  system  already 
provides  for  the  whole  case ;  that  it  offers  the  means  of  an 
elementary  education  to  all  who  choose  to  avail  themselves 
of  its  benefits.  This  may,  in  a  certain  sense,  be  true ;  but 
there  are  children  too  young  to  be  qualified  or  permitted 
to  choose  for  themselves,  and  yet  the  choice  made  for  them 
determines,  it  may  be,  the  happiness  or  misery  of  their 
whole  lives ;  determines  whether  they  are  to  be  useful  or 
pernicious  members  of  society;  and  shall  that  choice  be 
permitted  which  imperils  not  only  their  happiness,  but  the 
welfare  and  existence  of  the  State? 

It  is  precisely  those  children  whose  parents  or  guardians 
are  unable  or  indisposed  to  provide  them  with  an  education: 
It  is  precisely  those  for  whom  the  State  is  most  interested  to 
provide  and  secure  it;  for  other  children  would,  probably, 
be  educated,  if  the  State  did  not  intervene.  And  as  for 
the  children,  so  far  as  they  choose  for  themselves,  those 
who  neglect  the  education  offered  them  in  the  free  schools, 
preferring  the  pleasures  and  license  of  vagabondage  and 
truancy,  are  precisely  those  for  whom  such  education  is 
most  needed;  for  a  desire  for  education  is  next  to  educa- 
tion itself,  in  its  good  effects;  and  those  who  determine  to 
have  it  would,  probably,  obtain  it,  whether  the  State 
offered  it  to  them  or  not. 

Clearly  it  is  the  duty,  that  is,  it  is  the  highest  interest 
of  the  State,  to  secure  the  education  of  these  "  neglected 
children,"  if  possible;  and  the  only  questions  aj:e:  Is  it 
possible  ?  and,  if  so.  How  can  it  be  done  ? 

To  attain  the  end  will,  of  course,  involve  something  like 
what  is  called  "  Compulsory  Education;"  and  against  such 
a  scheme  there  is  started  at  once  a  great  variety  of  objec- 


12 

tions  and  difficulties.  Are  these  insuperable?  "Without 
argument  it  might  be  assumed  that  they  are  not;  for 
"  where  there  is  a  will  there  is  a  way."  Moreover,  it  is 
demonstrated  by  fact  that  they  are  not  insuperable ;  for 
the  thing  has  been  done ;  and  where  it  has  been  done,  it 
has  never  yet  been  undone  or  repented  of.  It  is  a  notable 
fact  that  no  country  or  community  that  has  adopted  either 
the  sjrstem  of  public  schools  for  all,  or  that  has  gone  so  far 
as  to  add  to  it  that  of  compulsory  education,  has  ever  re- 
traced its  steps. 

THE  SYSTEM  OF  COMPULSORY   EDUCATION   HAS   SEEK   LONO 
AND  StTCCESSFUIiLY   TRIED. 

This  system  has  been  long  established  in  Norway.  Du- 
ring the  400  years  of  the  subjection  of  this  country  to 
l)enmark,  it  may  be  said  that  education  was  much  neglec- 
ted, and  ignorance  threatened  to  become  universal.  Tlie  law 
rendering  education  compulsory  was  passed  in  1827,  the 
agitation  of  which  was  begun  in  1814,  soon  after  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  country  was  secured ;  and  the  enactments 
have  been,  since  that  time,  rendered  more  complete,  par- 
ticularly by  the  law  of  1860.  The  consequence  is,  that 
almost  every  Norwegian  can  read  and  write.  The  school 
age  of  compulsory  attendance  is,  for  children  in  the  coun- 
try, from  8  to  15  years,  and  in  the  towns,  from  7  to  15. 
Regular  attendance  upon  the  common  schools  is  enforced 
by  fines  imposed  upon  the  parents.  If  they  persist  in  neg- 
lecting the  training  of  their  children,  the  law  stops  in,  re- 
moves the  children  from  their  guardianship,  and  places 
them  in  families  where  they  will  be  conscientiously  taught, 
the  expenses  being  collected  from  those  who  should  have 
cared  for  them.  In  Norway  compulsory  education  was  the 
immediate  result  of  political  freedom. 


13 

In  Sweden  it  was  an  agitation  of  10  years  in  the  House 
of  Peasants,  that  finally  constrained  the  government  to 
take  up  the  subject.     Then  there  arose  a  remarkable  and. 
unanimous  opposition  from  the  Bishops.     Some  held  the 
matter  to  be  absolutely  local,  and  one  with  which  the  State 
should  not  meddle ;  others  declared  that,  if  schools  were 
established,  the  people  were  too  poor  to  send  their  children 
properly  clad ;  others  maintained  that  the  education  of  the 
peasantry  should  be  of  a  limited  character.     The  Bishop 
of  Lund,  that  seat  of  the  ancient  university,  maintained 
that  popular  education  could  not  and  should  not  be  intro- 
duced.    The  reply  of  the  celebrated  poet  Tegner,  then 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  "Wexjo,  was  similar  in  spirit.     To 
the  question,  what  should  the  Folk  schools  teach  ?  he  an- 
swered, "  The  culture  of  the  laboring  classes  ought,  prin- 
cipally, to  be  religious ;  this,  if  rightly  imparted,  includes 
morality ;  all  other  is  to  be  regarded  as  not  only  needless, 
but  more  hurtful  than  beneficial."     Tegner  was  at  that 
time  57  years  of  age,  and  had  been  a  Bishop  about  twelve 
years.     Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  established 
church,  in  three  years  from  the  time  these  answers  were 
given,  the  present  system  of  Folk  schools  had  its  founda- 
tion in  an  act  of  the  Diet.     By  the  law  of  1842  one  such 
school  was  required  to  be  maintained  in  each  Sochen,  both 
in  the  city  and  in  the  country.     [See  the  report  of  the 
United  States  Minister  at  Stockholm.]     The  result  has 
been  that  in  1868,  97  per  cent,  of  all  the  children  in  Swe- 
den were  actually  attending  the  Folk  or  higher  schools,  or 
were  receiving  certified  instruction  elsewhere.     Compul- 
sory education  in  Sweden  may  be  carried  by  law  to  the 
separation  of  children  from  parents,  but  this  has  been  re- 
sorted to  in  but  few  instances,  and  only  where  the  poverty 
of  the  parent  rendered  it  necessary  for  the  parish  to  sujp- 
port  the  child. 


14 

.  There  is  in  Sweden  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor  of  en- 
forcing universal  attendance,  avoiding,  if  possible,  the  sepa- 
ration of  parent  and  child.  Instruction  in  the  Folk  schools 
is  practically  gratuitous. 

In  Prussia,  also,  as  is  well  known,  the  system  of  com- 
pulsory education  has  been  established  long  enough  to  have 
had  its  effect  upon  the  training  of  a  whole  generation ;  and 
it  is  perhaps  the  best  educated  generation  that  has  ever 
lived,  or  that  is  anjrwhere  to  be  found.  No  other  people 
have  been  so  universally  trained  in  the  elements  of  learn- 
ing and  useful  knowledge.  This  is  the  people  that  has 
revolutionized  Europe  on  the  fields  of  Sadowa  and  Sedan ; 
and  the  success  of  Prussia  in  her  great  contests  with  Aus- 
tria and  with  France,  has  resulted  far  more  from  this  edu- 
cated intelligence  of  her  people  than  from  any  warlike  arm, 
or  any  strategy  or  military  science  of  her  generals. 

Austria  has  been  wise  enough  to  take  a  lesson  from  her 
defeat,  and  imitating  the  policy  of  the  victor,  she  has  en- 
tered upon  a  course  of  political  and  popular  improvement, 
upon  a  sptem  of  liberality  and  progress,  which,  if  perse- 
vered in,  will  render  her  a  greater  nation  than  she  has 
ever  been.  One  of  the  greatest  benefits  yet  conferred  upon 
the  working  classes  of  Austria  is  the  general  school  bill 
of  14th  May,  1869,  which  makes  national  education  com- 
pulsory, and  greatly  elevates  the  standard  of  it  In  aooord- 
ance  with  this  law,  compulsory  attendance  at  school  begins 
with  every  child  at  the  age  of  dz,  and  is  continued  unin- 
terruptedly until  the  age  of  fourteen.  But  even  then,  the 
child  is  only  allowed  to  leave  school  on  production  of  a 
certified  proof  that  he  has  thoroughly  acquired  the  full 
amount  of  information  which  this  great  law  fixes  as  the 
9ine  qua  rum  minimum  of  education  for  every  Austrian 
citizen.    Nor  are  any  private  schools  tolerated  by  the  gov- 


15 

ernment  which  do  not  efficiently  provide  the  prescribed 
amount  of  secular  instruction;  although  so  long  as  this 
condition  is  fulfilled,  the  law  imposes  no  limit  to  private 
educational  establishments. 

The  misfortunes  and  miseries  of  France  have  taught  her 
the  same  lesson ;  and  it  is  now  stated,  on  good  authority, 
that  the  French  republican  government  has  it  in  contempla- 
tion to  establish  for  that  country  a  thorough  system  of 
universal  compulsory  education.  Had  she  established  such 
a  system  thirty  years  ago,  the  name  of  Sedan  would  have 
remained  in  comparative  obscurity;  the  myriads  of  her 
)ldiery  would  have  acquired  their  knowledge  of  German 
"geography  in  a  more  satisfactory  way  than  that  in  which 
it  was  actually  forced  upon  them,  and  the  Paris  commune 
would  either  have  never  existed,  or  would  not  have  found 
the  ignorant  mob  of  idlers  and  vagabonds  that  were  ready 
to  execute  its  savage  decrees  of  vandalism  and  murder. 

England,  too,  has  been  roused  at  length  from  her 
lethargy.  Her  elementary  education  act  was  passed  August 
9,  1870.  This  act  of  a  liberal  progressive  administration 
has  made  a  step  towards  the  thorough  instruction  and  ele- 
vation of  the  masses  of  the  English  people,  which  an  es- 
tablished church  and  an  aristocratic  State,  with  all  the 
wealth  of  the  richest  country  in  the  world  at  their  com- 
mand for  centuries,  had  neglected  or  failed  to  accomplish 
or  even  to  undertake.  This  education  act  includes  the 
compulsory  feature,  and  its  detailed  provisions,  the  result 
of  a  most  exhaustive  investigation  and  discussion,  may  be 
referred  to  as  embodying  an  eminently  practical  effort 
towards  solving  and  removing  the  difficulties  which  em- 
barrass the  subject. 

Thus,  in  Europe,  the  system  of  compulsory  education 
has  been  established  in  countries  chiefly  agricultural,  and 


16 

in  others  largely  oommercial  and'  manufacturing ;  in  ooon* 
tries  with  a  scattered  rural  population,  and  in  others  witk 
cities  as  large  as  our  own ;  in  countries  comparatively  poor 
and  peaceful,  and  in  others  of  tba  greatest  wealth  and 
wariike  spirit;  in  countries  where  the  distribution  of 
wealth  is  most  equal,  and  in  others  where  it  is  most  un- 
equal And^  wherever  it  has  been  tried,  it  has  proved 
successful  and  satisfactory ;  no  retrograde  step  has  been 
taken  or  even  thought  of. 

Nor  is  it  in  Europe  only  that  the  system  has  be^i  intro- 
duced. Massachusetts  has,  for  several  years,  been  trying 
it  with  some  limitations,  but  with  a  constant  and  increasing 
tendency  towards  a  more  stringent  and  absolute  enforce- 
ment of  the  rule,  and  with  eminently  satisfactory  results. 
Not  only  Massachusetts,  one  of  our  oldest  States,  and, 
side  by  side  with  our  own  Pennsylvania,  the  very  cradle 
of  American  freedom,  and  where  the  ancient  fires  of  liberty 
still  burn  as  brightly  as  anywhere  else  in  our  independent 
country ;  not  only  old  Massachoaetts  in  the  East,  but 
Nebraska  in  the  West,  one  of  the  most  youthful  States  in 
the  Union,  where  the  life-blood  of  liberty  and  progreea.  is 
throbbing  with  fresh  and  boojwit  energy,  Nebraska  htM, 
by  the  framers  of  her  ConstitutioD,  sought  to  engraft  this 
feature  upon  her  school  system^  in  her  fundamental  law ; 
a  provision,  howe^^er,  which  has  been  made  prospective,  in 
eonsequence  of  the  rejection  of  die  Constitution  because  of 
an  objectionable  feature  in  the  atlide  on  taxation. 

The  Superintendent  of  pubib  achook  in  Maasachosetla 
reports,  in  1870,  that  the  law  te  the  tuppresaion  of 
"  truancy,"  as  applied  in  Boelon,  is  **  working  satisfao- 
torily."  The  city  is  divided  into  ten  truant  diBtricto,  one 
troant  officer  being  aealgned  to  each  district.  These  offi- 
cers are  expected  to  give  their  whole  time  to  the  invettigar 


m 


17 

ion  of  cases  of  truancy  reported  to  them  by  the  teachers 
of  their  respective  districts,  and  in  securing  the  attendance 
of  absentees ;  that  is,  of  children  whose  names  are  not  en- 

lled  in  the  schools,  and  who  are,  therefore,  not  known, 

hnically,  as  "  truants."     Massachusetts,  also,  requires  a 

rtificate  of  a  certain  number  of  months'  attendance  in 

hool,  as  a  condition  of  the  employment  of  children  in 

y  manufactory.  ^ 

The  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  in  their  report 
of  1871,  say  :— 

"By  the  present  law,  attendance  at  school  for  three 
months  in  each  year  is  rendered  compulsory  for  every 
child  between  the  ages  of  8  and  14,  except  in  certain  spe- 

al  cases,  while  the  towns  are  required  to  maintain  their 
schools  at  least  six  months  in  each  year. 

"  The  Board  recommend  that  the  statute  be  changed,  so 
as  to  require  attendance  for  the  whole  period,  at  least, 
during  which  schools  are  required  to  be  maintained,  believ- 
ing that  attendance  upon  the  schools  should  be  compulsory 
for  the  child  for  the  same  term  in  which  the  maintenance 
of  the  school  is  compulsory  for  the  tax-payers.  Since  the 
only  hope  of  security  and  prosperity  for  a  republic  rests  in 
the  virtuous  intelligence  of  its  citizens,  the  rightfulness  of 
compulsory  education  is  generally  admitted.  Salics  popvli 
auprema  lex.  The  necessity  of  enforcing  this  right  arises 
frdm  the  existence  in  our  community  of  a  large  and  grow- 
ing class  of  persons,  not  only  ignorant  themselves,  but 
only  too  willing  to  keep  their  children  in  ignorance  for  the 
sake  of  the  pittance  which  may  be  earned  by  unskilled 
juvenile  labor." 

From  New  York  comes  the  voice  in  regard  to  the  crying 
evil  of  absenteeism :  "  There  is  no  remedy  that  I  know  ot 
but  compulsory  attendance."  The  Superintendent  of  pub- 
2 


18 

lie  schools  declares  that  "the  primary  object  of  the  State, 
in  bestowing  free  education  upon  its  citizens,  is  not  to  benefit 
individuals  as  such,  but  to  qualify  them  properly  for  their 
relations  and  duties  to  ejich  other  as  members  of  the  same 
community."  The  Superintendent  of  the  schools  in  Maine 
has  put  the  argument  into  this  form :  "  The  power  which 
compels  the  citizen  to  pay  his  annual  tax  for  the  support 
of  schools  should,  in  like  manner,  fill  the  schools  with  all 
of  those  for  whose  benefit  that  contribution  was  made.  It 
is  in  the  light  of  a  solemn  compact  between  the  citizen  and 
the  State  community.  The  private  citizen  contributes  of 
his  means,  under  the  established  rule  of  the  State,  for  the 
education  of  the  youth,  with  a  view  to  protection  of  person 
and  security  to  property ;  the  State  compelling  such  con- 
tributions, is  under  reciprocal  obligation  to  provide  and 
secure  the  complete  education,  for  which  the  contribution 
has  been  made.  This  implies  the  exercise  of  State  power, 
and  involves  compulsory  attendance  as  a  duty  to  the  tax- 
payer. The  State  builds  prisons  and  penitentiaries  for  the 
protection  of  society,  and  taxes  society  for  the  same.  But 
docs  she  stop  here,  leaving  him  who  has  violated  the  law 
to  be  pursued  by  the  community  in  a  mass;  to  be  appre- 
hended by  a  crowd  and  borne  by  a  throng  to  the  place  of 
incarceration?  No;  she  porBues  the  criminal  through 
legitimate  instrumentalities,  ferrets  him  out  by  the  sharp- 
est means  of  detection,  and  eventually  secoreB  that  safety 
and  protection  to  society  for  which  sfx^ioty  has  been  taxed. 
Now,  to  prevent  crime,  to  anticipat43  aiul  shut  it  off  by 
proper  compulsory  efforts  in  the  sdiod-room,  working  with 
and  moulding  early  cliiMhood  and  youth  '  to  the  principles 
of  morality  and  justice,  and  a  sacred  regard  for  truth,  love  of 
country,  humanity,  and  a  univenal  benevolence,  sobriety, 
industry  and  fmgality,  chastity,  moderation  and  temper- 


19 

ice,  and  all  other  virtues  which  are  the  ornaments  of 
society'  [cited  from  the  Constitution  of  Maine],  the  State 
not  only  has  the  right  to  inaugurate  such  methods  as  may 
be  deemed  best,  but  is  under  strict  obligation  to  do  so  by 
all  the  means  in  her  power." 

The  world  is  moving !  Shall  Pennsylvania  remain  be- 
hind ? 


I 


CLASSIFICATION  OF  THE   EVIL. 

The  evil  to  be  remedied  is  multiform.  The  absentees 
from  the  schools  may  be  distributed  into  various  classes. 
There  are  absentees  from  the  public  schools,  who  are  pro- 
vided at  least  with  an  elementary  education  at  home,  or  in 
private  or  charitable  institutions.  Of  these  nothing  fur- 
ther is  required  but  the  ascertainment  of  this  fact ;  and 
their  case  is  then  to  be  entirely  set  aside  from  any  idea  of 
compulsion  or  control. 

For  the  rest,  among  the  absentees  from  the  schools,  are : 

1.  Children  living  in  the  streets,  without  guardianship 
or  supervision,  and  without  employment,  except  such  as 
they  may  choose  or  chance  to  pick  up  for  themselves. 

2.  Children  employed  in  manufacturing  drudgery,  not 
only  in  great  cotton  or  woolen  manufactories,  but  who  are 
crowded  into  cellars  and  garrets,  and  cramped  and  comfort- 
less rooms ;  working,  for  example,  in  manipulating  tobacco, 
and  in  all  sorts  of  simple  drudgery. 

3.  Children,  in  the  city,  kept  at  home  by  their  parents 
to  run  errands  or  help  them  in  their  daily  toil,  trade  or 
business;  as  about  grocers'  shops  or  butchers'  stalls,  or 
other  purely  unimproving  occupation  equivalent  to  idleness, 
at  home. 

4.  Children  in  the  country,  kept,  from  their  earliest 
years,  constantly  employed  in  agricultural  labors. 


20 


OUTLINES  OF  THE  BEMEDY  PROPOSED. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  and  of 
the  children  themselves,  that,  at  least,  an  elementary  edu- 
cation should  be  secured  to  all  these  classes ;  but  it  is  not 
equally  necessary  for  all.  For  the  first  class  it  is  most 
necessary,  and  its  importance  diminishes  in  the  order  of 
enumeration,  until  the  last  class,  in  which  it  is  least  impor- 
tant. For,  any  honest  employment,  consistent  with  health, 
is  better  than  idle  vagabondage;  and  the  knowledge  of 
some  trade,  or  of  agriculture  (which  is  the  healthiest  em- 
plojrment  of  all  for  a  child,  both  morally  and  physically), 
is  even  more  important  towards  making  a  good  citizen, 
than  a  knowledge  of  reading,  writing  or  arithmetic. 

The  truant  and  employment  laws  of  Massachusetts,  with 
some  fuller  provisions,  might  answer  for  the  remedy  in 
case  of  the  first  and  second  classes.  Of  the  first  class,  the 
attendance  at  school  should  be  required  and  secured  abso- 
lutely; and  for  those  among  them  entirely  destitute  of  homes 
and  means  of  support,  proper  refuges,  maintenance  and  guar- 
dianship should  be  provided  at  the  public  expense.  The 
safety  of  the  community  demands  it;  the  economy  of  the 
tax-payer  requires  it;  for  it  is,  in  the  end,  the  cheapest  way 
by  which  the  case  can  be  disposed  of,  and  the  only  way 
to  make  the  tax  already  pud  efifectual  to  accomplish  its 
object. 

And  it  is  to  be  remembered  that,  though  this  form  of 
the  evil  may  be  largely  local,  its  dangerous  consequences 
and  the  interest  in  having  it  remedied  are  not  local.  The 
character  of  great  cities  exerts  a  powerful,  and  often  a  sadly 
controlling  influence  on  the  country,  near  and  remote. 
They  may  be  fountains  of  blessing  to  a  State,  or  they  may 
be  sources  of  wide-spread^  corruption,  nests  of  iniquity, 
festering  sores  upon  the  body  politic.    The  children  that 


n 


21 

grow  up  neglected  in  the  city  do  not  always  remain  there. 
They  may  carry  the  pestilential  influence  of  their  vices  all 
over  the  State.  While,  if  they  were  rescued  from  ruin, 
trained  up  in  'useful  knowledge  and  moral  habits,  they 
would  almost  certainly  be  found,  in  large  proportion,  dis- 
tributed over  the  whole  ai'ca  of  the  State,  rendering  effi- 
cient assistance  in  the  development  of  its  resources  and 
the  elevation  of  its  character.  Their  education,  therefore, 
concerns  not  only  the  city  wherein  they  are  found,  but  the 
whole  Commonwealth. 

The  safety  of  the  State  may  not  be  so  much  imperiled 
by  the  neglect  of  the  second  class,  as  of  the  first ;  but,  in 
point  of  fact,  an  almost  equal  positive  loss  of  wealth,  i.  e., 
of  productive  labor,  is  incurred.  Besides,  it  is  permitting 
outrageous  cruelty  to  the  children;  and  if  tjie  State,  by 
solemn  enactment,  may  provide  for  the  prevention  of 
cruelty  to  animals,  though  inflicted  by  the  poorest  man  in 
the  very  act  of  earning  his  daily  bread,  will  she  not  pro- 
vide for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  her  own  children, 
however  the  necessities  of  the  parents  may  seem  to  justify 
or  excuse  it  ?  In  these  cases,  the  parents  or  employers 
should  be  absolutely  required,  under  appropriate  penalties, 
to  send  the  children  to  school  a  certain  portion  of  the  year, 
until  they  have  acquired  at  least  those  rudiments  of  knowl- 
edge which  should  be  adjudged  by  statute  to  constitute 
the  minimum  of  an  elementary  education.  If  obedience  to 
such  a  law  is  refused,  and  if,  from  the  poverty  of  the  par- 
ties, or  from  whatever  cause,  the  penalties  cannot  be 
enforced,  then,  as  in  the  former  case,  the  State  should 
interpose,  and  take  the  care  and  maintenance  of  the 
children  into  its  own  hands.  To  provide  for  their  main- 
tenance, by  compelling  them  to  devote  to  manual  and 
exhausting  labor  that  childhood  which  should  be  devoted 


22 

to  the  studies  and  recreations  of  school,  is,  in  the  end,  the 
most  expensive  way  to  the  State  in  which  it  could  be 
provided  for. 

Of  the  third  and  fourth  classes,  the  attendance  at  school 
might  be  required  by  a  similar  process  with  similar  pro- 
visions, and  for  similar,  though  at  least  in  the  fourth  class, 
not  equally  imperative  reasons.  Such  is  a  general  outline 
of  a  remedy  proposed  for  the  great  evil  in  question.  But 
it  meets  with  many 

OBJECTIONS. 

1.  "It  would  interfere  wiih  personal  liberty."  So  does 
the  imposition  of  military  service  or  training.  So  does 
the  requisition  to  serve  on  juries  or  to  aid  the  sheriff  in 
the  posse  comitatus.  So  does  the  law  abating  nuisances 
or  making  it  penal  to  sell  certain  articles  without  a  license. 
If  the  safety  and  welfare  of  the  State  are  sufficient 
reasons  for  those  interferences  with  personal  liberty,  why 
should  not  the  same  be  sufficient  reasons  in  the  other  and 
more  urgent  case?  Indeed,  we  might  as  well  admit  it  to 
be  a  part  of  the  personal  liberty  of  the  citizen  to  get  drunk, 
or  go  naked  in  the  streetSi  or  set  fire  to  hid  house,  or 
starve  his  family,  as  to  have  children,  and  that  he  may 
use  them  only  for  his  own  accommodation,  or  in  mere 
wantonness,  to  cast  them  upon  the  community,  in  vicious 
ignorance  and  sottish  in  If  the  law  may  restrain 
a  man  from  cruelly  beat...^  i..o  horse  or  his  mule,  shall  it 
be  considered  an  insufferable  interference  with  his  per- 
sonal liberty  to  forbid  his  dwarfing  tlie  minds,  debasing 
the  morals,  stunting  the  IxxlieB  and  enfeebling  the  constitu- 
tions of  his  children?  Is  the  Stat^  more  int^r*>Pt4?d  in 
the  care  of  oxen  than  of  men? 

2.  "It  would  be  an  interferenr  u.*  n^iiis  of 
oonscience." 


I 


23 

may  be  the  imposition  of  military  service,  or  the 
requisition  of  personal  aid  to  the  sheriff;  but  this  case 
need  involve  no  such  interference  at  all,  unless  men  have 
a  conscientious  repugnance  to  children's  being  taught  to 
read  and  write,  and  to  lead  moral  and  virtuous  lives, 
instead  of  being  left  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  and  vice. 
And,  even  as  for  religious  -instruction,  it  would  be  to 
assume  a  strange  position  to  say,  'Hlie  instructor  may 
teach  the  children  that  'twice  two  are  four;*  he  may 
even  say,  'be  temperate  and  chaste,'  but  I  have  conscien- 
tious scruples  against  his  saying,  'obey  the  commandments 
of  Almighty  God.' "  Still,  all  formal  religious  instruction 
or  exercises  in  the  schools  that  children  are  required  to 
attend,  including,  under  that  category,  even  the  reading 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  if  so  it  is  insisted  upon,  may  be 
confined  to  certain  prescribed  periods  at  the  opening  or 
close  of  the  school-day;  and  all  children  may  be  excused 
from  attendance  at  those  periods,  whose  parents  or  guar- 
dians should  expressly  desire  it. 

3.  "The  State  is  not  a  benevolent  institution,  or  associa- 
tion for  moral  reform." 

»  But  the  State  has  its  almshouses;  it  aids  in  the  support 
of  institutions  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  blind,  the  feeble- 
minded; it  aids  in  establishing  and  in  sustaining  houses  of 
refuge  and  schools  of  reform  for.  the  youthful  victims  of 
neglect,  incorrigibility  or  vice.  Its  Legislature  has  its 
standing  Committee  on  Vice  and  Immorality,  and  has 
constituted  this  commission  as  its  "Board  of  Public 
Charities."  Surely  it  will  hardly  be  urged  as  a  proper 
reason  against  a  legal  enactment,  that  it  will  do  some  good  ; 
that  it  will  tend  to  accomplish  even  the  highest  ends  of 
benevolence  and  morality.  But  here  it  is  the  very  safety 
and  welfare  of   the  State  that  are  appealed  to,  as  the 


24 

proper  object  of  the  proposed  legislation.  To  prevent  vice 
and  crime  by  removing  their  causes,  and  thus  to  prevent 
their  consequences  of  poverty,  and  misery,  and  shame,  of 
injury  and  loss  to  society,  is  quite  as  consistent  with  the 
proper  functions  of  the  State,  as  to  punish  them  after  they 
have  borne  their  fruits. 

4.  "  It  would  vastly  increase  the  cost  and  burden  of  the 
public  schools." 

If  it  should  do  so,  it  would  still  l)e  only  as  the  neces- 
sary means  of  securing  the  **  education  of  the  poor,"  for 
which  it  is  the  constitutional  duty  of  the  Legislature  to 
provide.  But  it  would  probably  not  increase  the  cost  of 
the  schools  nearly  so  much  as  it  might  be  supposed  or 
apprehended,  while  it  might  be  made  greatly  to  increase 
their  general  efficiency.  It  is  to  be  assumed  that  school 
accommodations  are  already  provided,  sufficient  for  all  the 
children  of  school-age  in  the  Commonwealth.  But  even 
if  it  were  necessary  to  reserve  or  supply  separate  schools 
for  those  children  who  do  not  now  attend  school  at  all, 
and  if  to  these  were  added  the  incorrigibly  truant,  and 
Uie  unreasonably  absent  from  the  other  schools,  together 
with  those  who,  for  misl)ehavior  or  negligence,  are  ex^ 
pelled  from  them,  it  would  only  leave  more  room  in  the 
other  schools  for  the  wants  of  an  increasing  population, 
and  would,  in  the  long  run,  involve  only  a  change  in  Uie 
distribtition  of  the  whole  number  of  children.  The 
result  would,  in  fart  ^  '^nt  the  average  attendance  in 
the  other  schools  Wo  iuuch  raised;  the  conduct  and 

industry  of  the  pupils  would  be  improved;  and,  in  the 
end,  the  number  to  be  provided  for  in  the  separate  school 
would  be  very  small  indeed.  And  as  to  the  meagre 
remnant  of  extremely  do.-»tituto  children,  which  would  be, 
we  believe,  continually  reduced  under  the  Bjrstem  we  pro- 


25 

pose,  for  whom  maintenance  as  well  as  instruction  would 
have  to  be  provided,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  State 
can  decline  the  duty  of  making  the  provision,  or  why, 
while  it  has  its  numerous  asylums  of  kindred  character, 
it  should  seek  to  decline  it.  We  think,  therefore,  that  the 
expense  would  not  bo ''vastly"  increased;  but  whatever 
the  cost  would  be,  it  ought  to  be  cheerfully  met. 

5.  "It  would  encourage  reckless  marriages,  and  the 
reckless  idleness  and  wastefulness  of  parents." 

This  is  the  sort  of  objection  that  has  been  made,  and 
may  continue  to  be  made  against  all  relief  afforded  to  the 
poor  and  wretched.  There  is  an  abuse  to  be  guarded 
against,  but  it  is  not  to  be  guarded  against  by  leaving 
the  destitute  and  miserable  to  rot  and  perish ;  but  only 
by  giving  the  relief  in  such  judicious  ways  and  degrees 
as  to  avoid  abuses  as  far  as  possible.  The  same  good 
judgment  should  be  exercised  in  this  case.  But  the  ob- 
jection is  the  less  applicable  here,  because  the  natural  and 
proper  effect  of  the  legislation  proposed  would  be,  on 
the  whole,  to  diminish  poverty  and  wretchedness,  as  well 
as  ignorance,  vice  and  crime.  Meantime  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  the  evil  consequence  alleged  has  actually  followed 
where  education  has  been  made  universally  compulsory, 
whether  in  Sweden,  in  Norway,  or  in  Germany. 

6'.  *'  Merely  to  learn  to  read  and  write  will  not  make 
better  citizens,  or  diminish  crime." 

Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  first  of  all,  that  the  practical 
alternative  is  not,  as  is  often  invidiously  suggested,  between 
a  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing  on  the  one  hand,  and 
habits  of  morality  and  religion,  or  a  knowledge  of  a  trade 
on  the  other ;  but  between  so  much  knowledge  as  is  involved 
in  reading  and  writing  and  no  education  at  all ;  between  so 
much  knowledge  as  that  or  blank  ignorance,  or  a  training 
only  in  habits  of  vice  and  rrimo. 


26 

In  the  second  place,  so  far  from  its  being  true  that  such 
a  modicum  of  learning,  or  any  amount  of  knowledge,  is 
naturally  associated  with  immorality,  the  plain  fact  is,  that 
there  is  a  natural  aflBnity  between  knowledge  and  good 
morals ;  between  the  normal  culture  of  the  intellect  and  of 
the  heart;  between  truth  and  rectitude;  and  that  a  know- 
ledge of  reading  and  writing  increases  both  the  means  and 
the  tendency  to  acquire  both  the  knowledge  and  the  habits 
of  virtue  and  good  morals.  This  is  the  general  law,  and 
the  dissociation  of  knowledge  from  virtue,  the  perversion 
of  knowledge  to  the  aid  and  development  of  vice  and 
iniquity,  which  it  is  true  may  sometimes  happen,  and  which 
has  happened  in  some  notorious  and  terrible  examples,  is 
one  of  the  most  monstrous  abuses  known  in  human  ei- 
perience. 

But,  in  the  third  place,  it  is  not  proposed  that  these 
children  should  be  taught  to  read  and  write  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  moral  or  religious  instruction.  The  public 
schools  of  Pennsylvania  are  neither  immoral  nor  godless 
schools.  Ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  of  the  teachers  are, 
and  would  continue  to  be,  moral,  and  nine-tenths  of  them 
religious  persons.  Moral  and  religious  instruction  and 
training  would  be  given,  radiating  constantly  in  an  un- 
conscious influence  from  the  person,  bearing  and  example 
of  the  teacher;  from  the  very  air  and  order  of  the  school 
room ;  and  in  formal  lessons,  too,  and  special  exercises,  with 
snch  rare  exceptions  for  weak  consciences  as  have  been 
before  referred  to.  Moreover,  we  here  add,  that  all  the 
time,  if  any,  besides  Sundays  and  Saturdays,  which  any 
psrents  may  require  for  their  children  to  receive  actual 
religioins  instruction  from  their  own  religious  teachers, 
woidd  be  freely  accorded  to  them.  The  Church  or  the 
Churches,  and  any  benevolent,  moral,  and  religious 


27 


tions  or  persons,  are,  and  will  be,  of  course,  at  perfect 
liberty  to  give  to  these  neglected  children,  now  in  question, 
not  only  moral  and  religious  instruction,  but  as  full  an 
education,  in  all  respects,  as  they  please.     The  State  will 
not  interfere  with  them.     The  State,  in  her  school  system, 
does  not  interfere  with  the  Church  at  all.     The  Church  is, 
and  always  has  been,  and  always  will  be,  while  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  our  civil  and  social  polity  remain  what 
they  are,  at  perfect  liberty  to  educate  in  religion,  morals, 
and  every  kind  of  learning,  all  the  children  in  the  State, 
if  she  will,  and  if  she  can  induce  them  to  receive  her  in- 
structions.    Of  course  the  State  will  not,  and  cannot  con- 
sistently, compel  the  attendance  of  the  children  upon  such 
schools.     The  Church  is  at  as  full  liberty  to  do  all  she  will 
and  can,  with  the  State  system  of  public  schools,  even  in- 
cluding  the   feature  of  compulsory  attendance   (for  this 
feature  is  never  applied  to  children  who  receive  sufficient 
instruction  elsewhere) ;  the  Church  has,  with  all  this,  just 
as  full  and  free  scope  for  all  her  benevolent  activities,  as 
she  ever  had  or  could  have,  with  no  State  schools  what- 
ever.    The  Church  has  had  her  opportunity,  without  these 
latter  schools,  falsely  and  slanderously  styled  "  godless," 
and  with  immense  revenues  and  means  in  her  hands — 
means  and  revenues,  in  many  cases,  bestowed  upon  her  for 
this  very  purpose — in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Portugal,  in  the 
States  of  South  America,  and  even  in  England ;  and  what 
has  been  the  result  as  to  the  education  of  the  masses  of 
the  poorer  and  of  the  so-called  lower  classes  of  the  com- 
munity ?     In  many  cases,  as  in  Sweden,  she  seems  to  have 
been  positively  principled  against  their  education.     The' 
"  Church"  has  reason  to  hide  her  head  in  silent  shame  or 
humble  confession  at  her  own  neglect,  rather  than  to  carp 
at  the -State  for  its  imperfect  efforts  to  supply  her  lack  of 


28 

service,  to  remedy,  as  it  may,  the  consequences  of  her  un- 
faithfulness. The  State  not  only  leaves  the  Church  at 
liberty  to  act  for  herself  and  in  her  own  way,  but  invites 
her,  and  invites  all  good  men,  to  render  their  aid  in  this 
work  so  fraught  with  beneficence  towards  its  particular 
objects,  as  well  as  interwoven  with  the  necessary  conditions 
of  the  public  welfare.  And  it  is  no  small  encouragement 
to  the  efforts  of  the  State  in  this  direction,  to  believe  and 
expect,  as  we  have  good  reason  to  do,  that  those  efforts  will 
be  seconded,  and  their  expense  greatly  curtailed,  not  only 
by  the  spontaneous  favor  of  public  opinion,  but  by  the 
systematic  aid  of  Christian  benevolence,  in  furnishing 
homes  and  refuges,  as  well  as  a  good  training,  to  many  of 
these  children  of  neglect  and  want. 

In  the  fourth  place,  if  by  "  good  citizens  "  is  meant  use- 
ful, productive  members  of  society,  it  is  not  pretended  that 
all  which  is  of  importance  to  make  men  such  is  to  teach 
them  to  read  and  write ;  and  if  the  State  is  disposed  and 
can  afford  to  secure  to  these  children  the  knowledge  of  some 
trade  or  handicraft  alaOj  so  much  the  better.  Meantime, 
the  mere  knowing  how  to  read  and  write  tends,  and  power- 
fully tends,  in  the  right  direction ;  tends  toward*  making 
men  useful  and  productive  citizens;  tends,  therefore,  to 
increase  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  State,  and  thus 
to  repay,  and  more  than  repay,  all  that  it  may  have  cost 
Abundant  evidence  on  this  head  has  been  collected  by  the 
United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  and  published 
in  his  report  for  1870,  pp.  439-467.  The  following  ques- 
tions were  submitted  to  a  great  number  and  variety  of 
competent  witnesses : — 

1.  Have  you  observed  a  difference  in  skill,  aptitude  and 
amount  of  work  executed  by  persons  you  have  employed, 
arising  from  a  difference  in  their  education,  and  indepen- 
dent of  natural  abilities  ? 


29 

2.  Do  those  who  can  merely  read  and  write,  and  who 
merely  possess  those  rudiments  of  an  education,  other 
things  being  equal,  show  any  greater  skill  and  fidelity  as 
laborers,  skilled  or  unskilled,  or  as  artisans,  than  do  those 
who  are  not  able  to  read  and  write  ?  and,  if  so,  how  much 
would  such  additional  skill,  etc.,  tend  to  increase  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  their  services,  and,  consequently,  their 
wages? 

The  answers  to  these  questions  all  tend  to  establish  the 
point  that  the  mere  ability  to  read  and  write,  by  even  an 
unskilled  laborer,  adds,  on  an  average,  from  twenty-five  to 
fifty  per  cent,  to  his  value  and  efficiency. 

Similar  questions  were  propounded  to  large  numbers  of 
intelligent  workmen,  and  of  observers,  who  were  neither 
employers  nor  workmen,  and  all  with  the  same  result. 

It  cannot  be  doubted,  therefore,  that  the  wealth  of  the 
State  would  be  greatly  promoted  by  giving  at  least  a  rudi- 
mentary education  to  those  thousands  of  her  children  who 
are  now  suffered  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  and  neglect. 

In  the  fifth  place,  that  the  merely  knowing  how  to  read 
and  write  is  to  some  extent  a  preservative  from  crime,  is 
evident  from  the  State  prison  statistics  already  given,  from 
which  it  appears  that  if  all  in  the  State  were  taught  to 
read  and  write,  the  number  of  criminals  would  be  dimin- 
ished nearly  ten  per  cent.  The  consequence  would  be  a 
great  pecuniary  saving,  though  one  can  hardly  bring  him- 
self to  mention  this  by  the  side  of  the  immense  moral  gain. 

7.  "  The  evil  complained  of  is  very  sHght  in  the  rural 
portions  of  the  State." 

If  so,  then  all  the  other  objections,  for  this  case,  propor- 
tionally lose  their  weight ;  then,  its  remedy  could  interfere 
but  little  with  personal  liberty  or  the  rights  of  conscience ; 
it  could  subject  the  Stat©  in  but  a  slight  degree  to  the 


30 

charge  of  philanthropy ;  it  could  coet  but  little,  and  could 
not  much  encourage  reckless  marriages  or  extravagant  liv- 
ing, nor  could  it  much  increase  the  exposure  of  the  State 
schools  to  the  charge  of  immorality  and  ungodliness,  or 
inutility  and  impotence. 

The  remedy  is,  doubtless,  more  needed  in  cities  and 
crowded  communities  than  it  is  in  sparsely  settled  and  agri- 
cultural portions  of  the  country;  but  we  think  that  we  have 
shown  that  its  beneficial  influences  would  not  be  confined  to 
these  districts  of  dense  population,  but  that  they  would  be 
widespread  and  general,  and  that  we  have  also  demonstrated 
that  in  the  less  thickly  settled  districts  it  is  not  impracti- 
cable, nor  likely  to  work  any  evil,  but  rather  that  it  will 
be  productive  of  good  and  only  good,  as  is  proved  by  the 
experience  of  Prussia,  and  Sweden,  and  Norway,  in  which 
latter  country  it  has  been  in  full  operation  for  more  than 
forty  years. 

CONCLUSION. 

From  a  review,  therefore,  of  the  whole  case,  the  Board 
cannot  but  earnestly  recommend  as  a  remedy  for  this,  one 
of  the  greatest,  most  painful  and  most  threatening  evils 
that  exist  among  us,  the  enactment  of  a  general  law  of 
compulsory  education,  or  as  near  an  approximation  to  it  as 
the  Legislature,  in  its  wisdom,  shall  deem  expedient  and 
practicable ;  any  necessary  increase  of  expenditure  to  be 
met  either  by  appropriations  from  tlie  State  Treasury  or 
by  local  taxation,  or  by  both. 


In 


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